Integrated circuits are typically formed on a semiconductor substrate such as a silicon wafer or other semiconductive material. In general, layers of various materials, which are one of semiconductive, conducting or insulating, are used to form the integrated circuits. By way of example, the various materials are doped, ion implanted, deposited, etched, grown, etc., using various processes. A continuing goal in semiconductor processing is to reduce the size of individual electronic components, thereby enabling smaller and denser integrated circuitry.
As semiconductor devices continue to shrink geometrically, such has had a tendency to result in greater shrinkage in the horizontal dimension than in the vertical dimension. In some instances, the vertical dimension increases. Regardless, the result is increased aspect ratios (height to width) of the devices, making it increasingly important to develop processes that enable materials to conformally deposit over the surfaces of high aspect ratio features. One such processing is atomic layer deposition, which involves the deposition of successive monolayers over a substrate within a deposition chamber typically maintained at subatmospheric pressure. With typical atomic layer deposition, successive mono-atomic layers are adsorbed to a substrate and/or reacted with the outer layer on the substrate, typically by the successive feeding of different deposition precursors to the substrate surface.
One commonly used class of materials in the fabrication of integrated circuitry is oxides. Some oxides are electrically conductive, while other oxides are electrically insulative.
While the invention was motivated in addressing the above issues, it is in no way so limited. The invention is only limited by the accompanying claims as literally worded, without interpretative or other limiting reference to the specification, and in accordance with the doctrine of equivalents.